Play CMx1 random battles
PS - are you the Markshot that recommends 1830? and if so what is the best way to get it on a new machine?
PPs my first return to CM forums for ages - I've just installed CMx1 games on a new PC and am revelling in nostalgia.

Excellent, and it plays better on Windows 8.1 than 8.0 albeit with some jigging around tabbing trying to load twice etc. But still more fun for me than the CMx2 sims - even though I've just upgraded to v3.11 on CMBN.

I recently upgraded to 3.11 (and thank you to whoever sent the pack of ten smaller files to download).
Basic scenarios seem to work, although I haven't played more than a few turns, but every quick battle causes a crash - I downloaded the set from Mark Ezra from the forum page and the new QB numbers seem to be there.
Is this just me?

I think that is a good idea for increasing replay ability.
I started to do something similar for myself with Command Ops where by just changing the value and location of some victory points I could have an almost new scenario with a different emphasis.

Hmm, I never had log in probs or difficulty seeing threads that had been read and I find the black on white more searing on the eyes and I'm just about to buy a 30 year old car (a Morgan) so I guess that's that then.

I've got the newer game (CMBN); it just isn't as much fun. I still loathe the new interface which I feel was crippled by trying to be RT and WEGO at the same time and by a feeble quick battle system.
Over the years and a dozen or more PCs and laptops I've bought 3 copies of CMBO and two each of CMBB and CMAK.
I think you have to be more of an enthusiast or sim specialist to play the newer game - but I've got too broad a range of game likes - switching eras and game systems.
And I still visit the forum (don't like the new style do you Grandad?) for the sometimes interesting discussions and amusing rants that crop up.

It's cheeky to charge for a product that can't run on Win 8 easily.
Mine just about works on a Win 8 netbook (Asus T100). Alt - tabbing or going to the Fisher Price screen and back, but it seems a bit random.

I think it is rubbish.
I don't recall reading lots of people saying the old forum needed changing.
I liked that link on an earlier post back to the old old site. Yes, CMBO still my game of choice on a Windows 8 netbook (Asus T100).

I'm losing track of this but I am reading a biography of General Hackett who was commander of 4th Parachute Brigade. But if you are American try and get a copy of "Those Devils In Baggy Pants" by Ross S. Carter for a first hand view of the 82nd Airborne.

One effect of HE, but a bit bigger, from 3AD site:
The 3AD had begun a four-pronged attack on the city, which was heavily defended. Division armor were finally able to enter the city slowly after numerous concrete tank barriers were destroyed. With 3AD tanks fanning out, and 36th Infantry riflemen following, the Super Pershing reached an intersection and began to round a corner to its right. Unknown to its crew, a King Tiger had apparently been waiting in ambush at a distance of two blocks or roughly 600 yards away, and in the same direction that the Americans were turning into.
At this distance, easily within its capability, the Tiger fired at the Super Pershing. But its infamous high-velocity 88mm shell, of the type that had destroyed so many American tanks and vehicles during the war, went high and was not even close. Gunner Cpl John "Jack" Irwin, only 18 years old, responded almost instantly with a round that struck the Tiger's huge angled glasis, or front plate. But the shot, a non-armor-piercing high explosive (HE) shell, had no effect. Ricocheting off the armor, it shot skyward and exploded harmlessly. The Super Pershing had been loaded with an HE only because Irwin had been expecting urban targets, such as buildings, personnel, and light anti-tank guns. "AP!", he shouted to his loader "Pete," which meant an armor-piercing shell would be next.
Maduri and crew then felt a concussion or thud on the turret. It was never known if this shot came from the Tiger, or from some other anti-tank weapon. In any case, no serious damage was done - probably a lucky glancing impact. In the next instant, Irwin aimed and fired a second time, just as the royal monster was moving forward and raising up over a pile of rubble. The 90mm AP round penetrated the Tiger's underbelly, apparently striking the ammo well and resulting in a tremendous explosion that blew its turret loose. With near certainty, the entire crew was killed.